Apple Corporate

Apple has been sued by a Taiwan-based university for the second time.

The company on Friday was hit with a lawsuit by the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan related to a patent the university owns on video compression technology. The complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, claims that Apple's use of video compression technology in its FaceTime video-chatting feature, as well as QuickTime, violates the university's patent.

The university last year hit Apple with a patent-infringement lawsuit over the company's use of Siri and voice-to-text functionality. … Read more

Apple and Samsung can't be stopped in the handset market, according to new data from analysts at Cannacord Genuity.

The analysts on Monday reported that Apple and Samsung again combined to capture all of the operating profits in the handset industry in the first quarter of 2013. In other words, there isn't a single other device maker competing in the mobile industry right now that's actually nabbing operating profits.

Although that might sound like bad news for companies like Nokia, Motorola, and Sony, Cannacord pointed out that in the past, Apple and Samsung had actually combined to … Read more

Apple has shot up to sixth place in the Fortune 500, Fortune announced today.

The iPhone maker's strong showing in the Fortune 500 is a dramatic rise from its 17th-place ranking in 2012. In sixth place, Apple is the highest-ranking technology company in a list topped by Walmart. Major oil companies, including Exxon Mobil and Chevron, along with Berkshire Hathaway, separate Apple from the top spot.

Another notable mention -- Facebook has for the first time made the Fortune 500. The company was previously ranked 598, but this year, it was able to take the 482nd spot in Fortune'… Read more

An operational Apple-1 will go on the auction block later this month, and the rare computer is expected to fetch as much as $392,000.

The 37-year-old machine -- thought to be one of only six in working condition -- is expected to sell for between $261,000 and $392,000 at the current exchange rate, according to German auctioneer Breker, which is conducting the sale. As impressive as that range may sound, it's far off the record mark of $640,000 set last December for Apple's first production computer.

Constructed in 1976, the Apple-1 is one of … Read more

Just how much is Apple's new, six-part, $17 billion bond plan going to end up saving the company in taxes it would have needed to pay if it used its overseas cash pile?

Try $9.2 billion, says a senior vice president at Moody's Investors Service.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Moody's Gerald Granovsky said that's how much Apple's not going to pay in U.S. taxes as it pays out $55 billion of its $100 billion capital returns program.

To put the figure, which was first reported by the Financial Times (subscription required) late Wednesday, in … Read more

J.C. Penney has launched a new ad campaign apologizing for the decisions made under Ron Johnson, its former chief executive and Apple's one-time retail chief.

The new ad, posted to YouTube, focuses people in different locations as a narrator acknowledges the company's recent mistakes that left customers unhappy and pushed revenue down billions of dollars.

"It's no secret, recently J.C. Penney changed," the narrator says over the ad. "Some changes you liked and some you didn't, but what matters from mistakes is what we learn. We learned a very simple thing: … Read more

Apple had a field day with its first debt offering since 1996.

Investors hungrily gobbled up $17 billion in Apple bonds, the largest offering in corporate history. The proceeds will be used to help fund the company's ambitious plan to return value to shareholders through share repurchases and dividend payouts.

The bond sale comes on the heels of Apple's plans to double its capital return program, which involves spending an additional $55 billion in dividend payments to investors. Apple also said it would be spending an extra $50 billion in repurchasing company stock along with increasing its quarterly … Read more

Apple's top executive plans to make another rare public speaking appearance at a technology conference next month.

All Things Digital today said that Tim Cook will be a speaker at the outlet's D11 conference taking place at the end of May. Cook's predecessor, late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, attended the conference in several previous years, and Cook headlined last year's show as well.

During last year's appearance, Cook noted that the company was "doubling down" on secrecy. He hinted at additional Siri features that would be unveiled a few weeks later. He also … Read more

Apple is readying a bond offering, its first since 1996.

The program, which The Wall Street Journal says could be finalized later today, is designed to help Apple pay for the more than $100 billion it plans to pay shareholders over the next few years.

Apple detailed initial plans for the program in a regulatory filing on Monday, and once again on Tuesday. It's a mix of notes and securities that mature beginning in 2016, and go through 2043, though Apple did not provide prices. Bloomberg suggests the total could go as high as $17 billion.

The bond sale … Read more